I do have a concience and I consider myself a moral person. I know that I don't hold the same values as everyone else but I do live by my values. Contrary to popular opinion, I still support the war and I will even if the entire premise for it is proven to be based on lies (which hasn't been done yet). Simply because it is the right thing to do in my opinion. I took the risk when I served in the miltary and so do today's soldiers. I too have been shot at. Soldiers are shot at everyday in situations where in my opinion, the justification for being there is a lot less than Iraq. Regardless of how we got there, it will benefit the Iraqis in the end if we stay the course. We cannot abandon them now. We have a commitment to fulfill at this point and their lives are now our responsibility. There should be a website identifying where American soldiers are everyday and what danger they face. I don't think the average American is even aware of what our military is doing around the world on a regular basis. We have soldiers all over the world - many missions are classified and some are just not publicized. That will never happen though because it would be available to those that would use the information against our very own soldiers. Many would say that nothing is worth risking the lives of Americans but I disagree. The casualties are not limited to Americans either, they include 2,065 Americans, one Australian, 97 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians.


>>I'm afraid that I fall into that category Mike. I know that there is a complete and obvious difference between low-income living here in the states and poverty in the 3rd world countries. I have visited some of those countries myself and seen the real conditions. I know that in general every American is safe from persecution and enjoys the freedom of free speech and basic rights. Yet I find it more and more difficult to support my tax dollars (and the lives of our citizens) going overseas when the assistance is only resented in the end. Even if 2000 lives save millions when you are hated for the effort and the sacrifice it is hard to justify. I am leaning more and more towards pulling out everything from everywhere (money and every type of support) except for at home.
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>I thought you do the right thing just because it's the right thing to do, and becuase it makes you popular and liked.